28 February, 2012

In a few days I'll be leaving for Asia. It's time for the annual Taipei Cycle Show. Prior to the show Alec and I will be visiting several of the factories that make VO parts. We'll meet with most of our other suppliers at the show.

A really fun part of these trips is seeing what's new at the show. Bike companies from all over the world display their newest and greatest. Manufacturers and factories show off what they can make. We usually find a few cool new products and at least one or two factories with new and interesting capabilities. We also get some great meals and do a little sightseeing. Alec is taking his bike for a 4-day trip through the mountains.

We'd like to ask, as before previous Taipei shows: what do you think we should look for? What products do you need - or just want - that are unavailable? Please bear in mind that these have to appeal to a fairly wide audience and should be the sort of thing that fits with the VO philosophy (no BMX, unicycle, MTB, etc parts).

UPDATE:I thought I'd add some thoughts on the various suggestions here:

Lights- I don't really want to get VO into making much lighting stuff. It's a huge category that I'm not an expert in. Maybe in a couple of years, or if we hire some brilliant lighting engineer.

Brass or plastic fenders- We have aluminum which is light and stainless which is tough. Brass is neither, so I can't see the attraction. I can see really good plastic fenders on off-pavement bikes, but not on road bikes--I'll keep thinking about this.

Stems with integrated hangers- We could do this with the Grand Cru stems, even add knurled caps, but they would cost about $120. Worth it?

PBP rims are sailing next week, along with almost everything else that's out of stock.

Those new canti brakes will be here in about 4 weeks. You'll like them!

Tires- We'll keep looking for new ones. There has been talk of a certain lower-end tire company looking to go high-end... possibilities.

We looked into making really good freewheels and it would have been far too expensive for us. The Shimano models aren't all that bad.

We are already working on a really nice new chainguard.

Regarding full wrap fenders, ours are as long as is practical for most folks. Longer and you'll dent them riding off a curb and they won't work without a second front stay or rack attachment, which most of our customers don't want. But we still may make a longer version as a limited run in the future.

Our existing Raid rims are much like MA-2s, just a bit wider for the wider tires now in vogue.

I'm reluctant to make replacement forks because some folks will inevitably put them on unsuitable frames.

102 comments:

Since quality freewheels are extinct. How about a five speed cassette hub, 120mm OLN ?A low profile cantilever brake too,like the one you showed a while ago. RaboBank had the same brake on their cross bikes.

Moar 700C PBP rims! And more of those switchable dyno hubs, or at least a dyno hub that can live on the same bike as a Grand Cru rear hub. Oh, and a hydraulic road lever/disc brake combo. It might not sound like it fits in with VO, per se, but it fits in with modern-yet-retro-tastic bike design.

Your MKS Lambda Pedals don't have very good lateral support. Maybe you could convince MKS to augment them somewhat. I made my own, but MKS could do it more cheaply. Here's mine: http://www.flickr.com/photos/45758191@N04/sets/72157629107195978/with/6791112680/

Another vote for battery (alkaline or rechargeable) lights that clamp on and don't look like crap or cost $60/pc. Front and rear, but a decent front would be most awesome as most of us have resigned ourselves to ugly tail lights since we don't have to look at them all the time.

If there are new entrants in the plastic-but-classy-looking fender market many of us would be interested.

Find us a new $30 tire. The quality of Panaracer Paselas has declined too far -- the sidewall rubber on the skinwalls is too thin and the last few wire beads I've bought have been so large I probably could have gotten them on a 27" rim. That or gently ask Panaracer to up their game a little.

Best in class tools are always welcome, as are metal replacement floor pump heads with a lever clamp. Most of us use Silca pumps, but the slide-on heads aren't great and a plastic clamp-on head just looks silly.

Rando style brake levers that could be operated like the old Mafacs from the bar tops or the upper part of drops -- especially if these can work both as main and interrupter/secondary levers like those for cylclocross use from Paul & Salsa.

And I'll second the affordable LED lights that would look good mounted to fenders & rando racks wouldn't hurt either.

A low rider rear rack like this, as linked from your recent "super rack" post. This is what the VO camper rack should be like, IMO, to be used in conjunction (or not) with the constructeur rear rack, but I suppose you are too far down the development path with that rack by now.

Lighting need not require specialist design input; the hard bits (electronics/reflector design) have been done by others - unfortunately those others are lacking in the aesthetics department. VO lights should take the best currently available lights and repackage them in beautiful housings. I'm planning to put a B&M IQ Fly into a Radios #18, but I'd love an off-the-shelf equivalent.

A nice $50 range normal setback seatpost. 26.6, 26.8 and 27.2 for starters. I am OK with you doing an item as a limited run... get them while you can, for less common sizes. I would happily put down a deposit 3-6 mos in advance for this.

Also, adjustable length toe clips. I never know which size to order, but it would be a no-brainer if you had an adjustable pair! No more small-medium-large-XL

I know you said you aren't looking into creating lights but I echo the sentiment above that nice classic looking lighting for both the front and rear of the bicycle are sorely lacking right now. Both fender and rack/bicycle mount. Personally I'd prefer them to be battery powered using standard size (i.e. AA, AAA etc.) rechargeable batteries.

The other thing I can't find a wonderful solution for are chain-guards. What you offer now is far and above ahead of anything else in the market but I'd love to see some other solutions. Preferably solutions that work for various chain ring tooth counts and BCD sizes.

I know these currently can be put together finding the parts. But, I'd really love it if you could offer an elegant kit for quick handlebar swaps. Something that includes nice looking cable splitters/separators.

I would like to see fenders sized for narrower 26" tires, like the 1.5" tires on my wife's hybrid. The available fenders dwarf the tires, and leave a lot of daylight between the tire and fender.Tom in CA

Chain guards. Look at some of the old vintage French ones for sale on eBay. Yes, a chain guard isn't for every bike, but they're very useful in the right application. Let's have some (or even one) with style. The Porteur chaincase is nice but it isn't quite the right look...

A simple solution for mounting shifters on a handlebar when you can't do a bar-end, akin to Paul Thumbies. That can't be terribly complicated, and the materials need not be exotic.

You could also mount shifters on the base of a straight-bar brake lever, like those guys at Retroshift are doing with road brakes for a cross application. In your case (and mine) some city bars can get crowded, so putting simple thumb shifting on a brake base would save space and be a good low-tech retrofit solution. I've always thought too that a friction/ratchet shifter should be made that mounts below the bar with a lever such that you could move it back and forth with either the thumb or forefinger as one would any straight-bar shifter.

A crown-lugged replacement fork with clearance for 700c/38 for a 1-inch threaded headset with that beautiful retro curve. Maybe even chromed.

I also second the stem with barcon shifter bosses. If I were to modify MKS Lambda pedals, it would be to allow the use of half-clips, which would make them the ultimate city pedal in my book. All you'd really need to do is replace one of the crescent-shaped platform sections with a slightly thinner and squared off section. Easy peasy.

I'd like to second that motion. In Brooklyn there are probably as many 70's and 80's bikes on the road as newer ones, many of them unrestored entry-level touring bikes with stem mounted shifters and brake levers like these. Everybody loves 'em, and I don't think you can get any new and/or good ones these days.

I don't even want them for myself but I know I'd be a hero around here if I had them to sell...

A worthy replacement for the gone-but-not-forgotten Arai drum brake for tandems. The tandem world would beat a path to your doorstep!

An adapter, similar in concept to the old T.A. ref 175, that would attach 110 mm bolt circle diameter chainrings to 50.4 mm bolt circle cranks. This would bring abundant chainring availability to V.O., T.A., and other classic crank arms. The result would fit perfectly with the Velo Orange retro-modern aesthetic. It would only be a small step away from this aesthetic to drill it for the addition of a 74 mm bolt circle small chainring.

A rear LED flasher that is really bright, it must be compact and be able to be attached to a rack (like european tail lights) additional fittings for backpack,fender, or helmet. Big ask I know but I have 3 bikes and have different racks and attachments for tail lights, one removable bracket/fitting would be great.

I have a request for a semi-esoteric item that is probably not worth r&d but would be nice to find if it actually exists: I need a dual downtube cable stop for use with a top-side "aero" single shifter braze-on. There are several kludges that solve this problem, but no elegant solution as far as I can tell.

I would also be interested in a pared-down chainguard that protects the chain from spray from the front (enveloping the front half circumference of the chainwheels. Yes, inside too) and rear wheels (Folds over the chain/front derailer in the tire area) but not much else, ie not total skirt-proofing like the porteur model yet optimized spray protection for the chain. It may need to be split in two?

Hmmm...I expect that, between you and Rivendell, the hypothetical 'do-everything' bike market is well-served. Same with the ersatz retro, nostalgia bike market. What is not well-represented--and I think there is a market for--is a stable-yet lively, ride all day road bike with a maximum tire capacity of 28c with fenders, double ring crank with about a 12-25 or 12-28 cassette, bars below the saddle, and no provision for bags apart from an under the saddle tool and tire kit. When I think 'city bike' that is what I think. It is what I rode all through university and grad school, and what I am on the hunt for now. I commute on my cross check and I enjoy it, but if I could find something like that--neither a carbon or aluminum racer or something suitable for moving fridges--I would scoop it up.M Burdge

Headset with the typical 1 1/8" outer diameter for the cups, BUT an inner diameter for 1" steer tube...and a threaded top cap.

There are a lot of options to buy threaded 1" forks but there's no safe way to install them on a modern bike (like your typical Surly). A headset that'll press into a current/modern headtube but would hold onto an old style fork (that accommodates a quill stem) would be FREAKIN' AWESOME.

Perhaps best of all would be to size the bodies to use current spacing standards, for easy product availability, and benefit from the narrower dimensions. For instance, 7 cogs (& 6 spacers) from a Shimano 9 speed cluster is slightly less wide than their traditional 6 speed cluster.

A kick-back 2 speed internal gear hub with a really huge gear ratio. Or, if not that, a 2-speed with a much lower low. I know 5 and 8 speeds offer a wide ratio, but they also weigh a ton. In reality most people can get around almost entirely in one gear until they hit that one big hill. How great would it be to have a super-simple, cable-less transmission that could take you anywhere. That would kill on a folder or demountable!

Also, a clip-on aluminum fender. Maybe like SKS raceblades but, yeah, aluminum and wide enough for a decent rando tire. It would be nice for road frames that don't have good clearance under the fork and brake bridge, particularly when sporting tires larger than 700x23.

Headset with the typical 1 1/8" outer diameter for the cups, BUT an inner diameter for 1" steer tube...and a threaded top cap.

There are a lot of options to buy threaded 1" forks but there's no safe way to install them on a modern bike (like your typical Surly). A headset that'll press into a current/modern headtube but would hold onto an old style fork (that accommodates a quill stem) would be FREAKIN' AWESOME.

Another vote for the full wrap fenders with fender skirts. The rear fender skirt prevents crud from filtering to the cranks and chain.

As far as lights go, vintage style tail light housings for modern LED lights. Short of getting a vintage Soubitez and converting it to LED, there really isn't any way of getting the combination of a good looking tail light with good illumination.

By full wrap fenders I meant the ones which flare around the tires at the ends to prevent side splashes. Similar to those on Umberto Dei bicycle's and many 1930s-40s French porteurs. Not longer length coverage wise, but flared wrap around width,

How about importing the Microshift thumb shifters? They're coming on some Surly bikes, but some of us might want them for retrofit projects. It gets quite frustrating attempting to buy them on E-bay. Plus the Microshift thumb shifters will shift 9 and 10 speed drivetrains.

I am not interested in retrofitted forks, so I don't have a horse in this race, but anyone who has seen on Cyclofiend that Specialized girls bike with Aerospokes, http://www.cyclofiend.com/cc/2007/cc426-joezigurski1207.htmlcan see that any part is liable to be wrongly used. I be forks would bea hot seller.m Burdge

A Straddle Wire Roller Hanger, similar to the one already sold here, but with a quick release. Dia Compe make (made) them, but I've only ever found one pair for sale on ebay. Most times the quick release is on the cable stop, but on some mixte frames this isn't available.

Hope you'll be on the lookout for any clever new security devices (wheel locks, etc) that might be in some out-of-the-way booth. A double-sided SPD-compatible city/touring pedal that doesn't look like it was designed by H. R. Giger would be welcome, too. ;-)

The 60-65mm offset forks would make quite a few people happy and, while they could be used inappropritely, so could everything else so I don't see how that is a relevant argument. It's actally pretty hard to make an unrideable bicycle... If they were available with both 1" and 1 1/8" steerers that would also help.

28-35mm tyres with a sticky compound for wet grip and supple sidewalls would also be good, as would a decent brake with a reach up to say 65mm; dual pivot would be fine by me. The Tektro R556 and 559 are overkill unless one really needs 70+ mm of reach, and something a bit less bulbous wouldn't hurt.

As you mention on the blog, the Raid rims are pretty MA-2 like- and are now one of the few production rims with spoke sockets instead of simple ferrules in the eyelets. Congratulations on that design choice.

It'd be nice to have them in 559 size too, but maybe there is not enough of a market for that. It'd also be wonderful if the PBP rims could have the same feature, for those of us who prefer narrower tires

I'd like a chaincover along these lines: http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6156/6262919113_d8e1ea690d_b.jpgIdeally it wouldn't be simply cut out of flat sheet metal. A ride long the bottom edge might be nice. Nothing too fancy.

I do think that a chaincover, the chaincase and perhaps a fender set should be available painted to match the Polyvalent. At least the chaincase. I don't think that a big flat piece of bare aluminium in that location is a great idea on a utilitarian bicycle.

I'd also like to see a SS fender set built specifically for the Polyvalent. It should be as wide as possible, with factory indentation as was done on countless European production bikes that had 55mm+ wide fenders.

The polyvalent should also be built for internal wiring or perhaps some sort of braze on for external wiring. It's 2012, we do not live on middle earth. We shouldn't be using zip ties anymore. Also you should consider helping out customers who want to use fender mounted dynohub powered taillights. Materials or a how to guide might be nice. Perhaps a Polyvalent specific fender set could take fender mounted taillight wiring into consideration. The original kogswell fenders had some sort of wire guides, didn't they?

I once met someone who had a Kogswell with VO Porteur rack that apparently carried everything and a rear rack that was used to hold up the taillight. In the world of low trail a rear rack is something many people do without.

Alec, correct me if I'm wrong but I thought the Chris King Devolution headset only allowed for threadless stems. I'd love to see one that allowed for a quill stem. I know soma makes the quillinator which converts a 1" threadless to a 1" threaded but not a 1 1/8" to to 1". Also the soma one is kinda odd looking but I could make do with that.

VO anti-theft skewers are great for urban cyclists (until the thieves start buying the keys, anyway). How about a VO Grand Cru seatpost that ships with the same security bolts, and a matching seatpost clamp? And maybe more than one type of security bolt for all VO anti-theft products? In San Francisco, a bicycle is quickly relieved of its Brooks saddle these days.

I understand your trepidations with lights but as you can see in the comments there's a severe lack of aesthetically pleasing/classic battery powered lights on the market. Not everyone can do a dynamo. It seems to me like a valuable venture to look into.On that note, I love to see a classic french throwback chainguard, the ones shaped like wings. Or at least mounting hardware for them. I had to fashion my own.

Clamp-on shift-lever bosses sized to fit on the *downtube* (not handlebars). I apologize for not being sufficiently specific in my previous suggestion. These should be offered in both single and double versions.

To illustrate the need, there are six bikes in my fleet, all over 30 years old, none with braze-on bosses. Two are set up with single chainrings and downtube shift levers for the rear derailleur. This leaves me with the choice of a do-nothing left shift lever or empty left boss on the existing downtube shift levers.

I donated on KickStarter to a company called Magnic Light that is at the show right now. Their product uses the interaction of the spinning alloy rim and strong magnets to create enough electricity to power some serious lights. Not exactly Velo-Orange stuff but cool enough to check out.

Late to the party, but I would love to see a leather-covered, "plastic" saddle with real bag loops. Kind of like the Avocet Touring II but with metal loops instead of plastic (they break easily). Maybe like an Avocet 02 with loops?

I would likes lights. I would like to see a more advanced magnetic induction system than reelight sells. I'd like to see a solar charged battery operated system.

I'd like to see 46t 110 and 130bcd chainring that you can mount 30t 74bcd chainring to. Stronglight has made the 130bcd chainring and IRD makes a 110bcd one. I know you have your own crankset that has 46/30t gearing but chainring wear out faster than cranks and it would be nice some refitting options for existing equipment.

I would like to see a decaleur that had a cable stop for center pull and canti brakes.

I would like to see some clothes, just plain merino wool clothes with no logos on them.

Similar to the clamp on pump pegs and cable guides could you perhaps make the holders for stretched rubber chain slap protectors? Most frames don't have the holders brazed on anymore and short of a custom frame if we want a rubber slap guard this would be the only option. I know you make the applied strips, but this could be something quite nice.

1) Decaleurs. The headset-mount decaleur doesn't work with centerpull/canti brakes at all, as I discovered just recently after waiting a year for the stem-mount ones to reappear. Are the stem-mount decs going to come back, or are they going to be replaced with an analogous product, or are you finished with decaleurs entirely?

2) Chainring bolts for the 50.4 crankset - doubles AND triples. I know I've complained about triples several times...but that's because my supply of soft-steel TA bolts keep getting their heads torqued off. As you're willing to retail freewheel hubs, I don't understand why you don't seem to recognize that some of us still use triples to get the same gearing range with 6/7-speed freewheels that y'all with modern frames use 9-speed cassettes+compacts to get.

If all my wishes were being realized, I'd want cyclotouriste inner rings in the 42-48T range, for half-step/granny setups. But TA doesn't make those, and I don't expect you will, either.